The Bandeja Magazine Issue 2

feature: padel festival
Westfields
Padel Festival
breaks the mould
A ground-breaking event that took padel into a London shopping
centre for a long weekend of celebrity matches, public participation
and coaching sessions showcased the sport to a potential 250,000
people and attracted huge media interest.
The padel festival, at Westfields
London in Shepherd’s Bush,
saw a pop-up court installed
overnight in the centre’s central
atrium ready for three full days of
events, including appearances by
former Wimbledon singles champion
Andy Murray and his brother Jamie,
a seven-time Grand Slam doubles
champion plus an exhibition match
featuring adidas ‘master coach’
Pablo Franco.
Padel facility provider/operator
Game4Padel, working with
pop-up court specialist Instantpadel,
masterminded the project and laid
on a programme of events that
encouraged shoppers on to court,
welcomed local school children for
coaching and a hit with Andy and
Jamie and saw celebrities (including
former British No 1 tennis player
Andrew Castle, former England cricket
captain Andrew Strauss, England
cricketer Sam Billings, tennis player
Laura Robson, TV/radio presenter
Jamie Theakston and model-turnedphotographer
Laura Bailey) take to
the court for friendlies.
GB No 1 Tia Norton, a Game4Padel
ambassador, was on hand
throughout the event. She described
the weekend as an ‘absolutely
incredible idea’. “Playing with Andy
and Jamie, in the moment, I was
pretty chilled because padel is my
comfort zone but coming away from
the weekend having played with
them….it’s not normal!”
And, thanks to playing with Laura
Bailey, Tia has made her first
appearance in Vogue in an article
written by Laura, a self-confessed
padel fan: “We warm up and go
straight into a few friendly sets as
partners. This is padel, but not as
I know it. Norton is a gymnast, a
trickster, a powerhouse. Even as
Radio presenter Jamie Theakston.
Game4Padel’s James Rose and
tennis player Andrew Castle.
Andy Murray.
Game4Padel
coach NJ taking
a session.
26 thebandeja.com